IB 

Union Calendar No. 335 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4084 

[Report No. 114–438] 

To enable civilian research and development of advanced nuclear energy 

technologies by private and public institutions and to expand theoretical 

and practical knowledge of nuclear physics, chemistry, and materials 

science. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2015 

Mr. WEBER of Texas (for himself, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, 

Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Mr. TONKO, Mr. BRIDENSTINE, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. 

BABIN, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. CARTER of Texas, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. MARCHANT, and Mr. FARENTHOLD) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Science, Space, and Technology 

FEBRUARY 29, 2016 

Additional sponsors: Mr. KNIGHT, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. POSEY, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. 

NEUGEBAUER, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. PETERS, and Mr. GARRETT

FEBRUARY 29, 2016 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on November 19, 2015] 


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A BILL 

To enable civilian research and development of advanced 

nuclear energy technologies by private and public institutions and to expand theoretical and practical knowledge 

of nuclear physics, chemistry, and materials science. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nuclear Energy Innova5 tion Capabilities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NUCLEAR ENERGY. 

7 Section 951 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

8 U.S.C. 16271) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 951. NUCLEAR ENERGY. 

10 ‘‘(a) MISSION.—The Secretary shall conduct programs 

11 of civilian nuclear research, development, demonstration, 

12 and commercial application, including activities in this 

13 subtitle. Such programs shall take into consideration the 

14 following objectives: 

15 ‘‘(1) Providing research infrastructure to pro16 mote scientific progress and enable users from aca17 demia, the National Laboratories, and the private sec18 tor to make scientific discoveries relevant for nuclear, 

19 chemical, and materials science engineering. 

20 ‘‘(2) Maintaining National Laboratory and uni21 versity nuclear energy research and development pro22 grams, including their infrastructure. 

23 ‘‘(3) Providing the technical means to reduce the 

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1 creasing confidence margins for public safety of nu2 clear energy systems. 

3 ‘‘(4) Reducing the environmental impact of nu4 clear energy related activities. 

5 ‘‘(5) Supporting technology transfer from the 

6 National Laboratories to the private sector. 

7 ‘‘(6) Enabling the private sector to partner with 

8 the National Laboratories to demonstrate novel reac9 tor concepts for the purpose of resolving technical un10 certainty associated with the aforementioned objec11 tives in this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this subtitle: 

13 ‘‘(1) ADVANCED FISSION REACTOR.—The term 

14 ‘advanced fission reactor’ means a nuclear fission re15 actor with significant improvements over the most re16 cent generation of nuclear reactors, which may in17 clude inherent safety features, lower waste yields, 

18 greater fuel utilization, superior reliability, resistance 

19 to proliferation, and increased thermal efficiency. 

20 ‘‘(2) FAST NEUTRON.—The term ‘fast neutron’ 

21 means a neutron with kinetic energy above 100 

22 kiloelectron volts. 

23 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘Na24 tional Laboratory’ has the meaning given that term 

25 in paragraph (3) of section 2, except that with respect 


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1 to subparagraphs (G), (H), and (N) of such para2 graph, for purposes of this subtitle the term includes 

3 only the civilian activities thereof. 

4 ‘‘(4) NEUTRON FLUX.—The term ‘neutron flux’ 

5 means the intensity of neutron radiation measured as 

6 a rate of flow of neutrons applied over an area. 

7 ‘‘(5) NEUTRON SOURCE.—The term ‘neutron 

8 source’ means a research machine that provides neu9 tron irradiation services for research on materials 

10 sciences and nuclear physics as well as testing of ad11 vanced materials, nuclear fuels, and other related 

12 components for reactor systems. 

13 ‘‘(c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con14 gress that nuclear energy, through fission or fusion, rep15 resents the highest energy density of any known attainable 

16 source and yields zero air emissions. This energy source is 

17 of national importance to scientific progress, national secu18 rity, electricity generation, heat generation for industrial 

19 applications, and space exploration. Considering the inher20 ent complexity and regulatory burden associated with this 

21 area of science, the Department should focus its civilian nu22 clear research and development activities towards programs 

23 that enable the private sector, National Laboratories, and 

24 universities to carry out such experiments as are necessary 


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1 to promote scientific progress and enhance practical knowl2 edge of nuclear engineering.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. NUCLEAR ENERGY RESEARCH PROGRAMS. 

4 Section 952 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

5 U.S.C. 16272) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking subsection (c); and 

7 (2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

8 subsections (c) and (d), respectively. 

9 SEC. 4. ADVANCED FUEL CYCLE INITIATIVE. 

10 Section 953(a) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

11 U.S.C. 16273(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘, acting through 

12 the Director of the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and 

13 Technology,’’. 

14 SEC. 5. UNIVERSITY NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 

15 SUPPORT. 

16 Section 954(d)(4) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

17 U.S.C. 16274(d)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘as part of a 

18 taking into consideration effort that emphasizes’’ and in19 serting ‘‘that emphasize’’. 

20 SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY CIVILIAN NUCLEAR IN21 FRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES. 

22 Section 955 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

23 U.S.C. 16275) is amended— 

24 (1) by striking subsections (c) and (d); and 

25 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(c) VERSATILE NEUTRON SOURCE.— 

2 ‘‘(1) MISSION NEED.—Not later than December 

3 31, 2016, the Secretary shall determine the mission 

4 need for a versatile reactor-based fast neutron source, 

5 which shall operate as a national user facility. Dur6 ing this process, the Secretary shall consult with the 

7 private sector, universities, National Laboratories, 

8 and relevant Federal agencies to ensure that this user 

9 facility will meet the research needs of the largest pos10 sible majority of prospective users. 

11 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—Upon the determination 

12 of mission need made under paragraph (1), the Sec13 retary shall, as expeditiously as possible, provide to 

14 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 

15 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

16 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a de17 tailed plan for the establishment of the user facility. 

18 ‘‘(3) FACILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) CAPABILITIES.—The Secretary shall 

20 ensure that this user facility will provide, at a 

21 minimum, the following capabilities: 

22 ‘‘(i) Fast neutron spectrum irradiation 

23 capability. 

24 ‘‘(ii) Capacity for upgrades to accom25 modate new or expanded research needs. 


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1 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out 

2 the plan provided under paragraph (2), the Sec3 retary shall consider the following: 

4 ‘‘(i) Capabilities that support experi5 mental high-temperature testing. 

6 ‘‘(ii) Providing a source of fast neu7 trons at a neutron flux, higher than that at 

8 which current research facilities operate, 

9 sufficient to enable research for an optimal 

10 base of prospective users. 

11 ‘‘(iii) Maximizing irradiation flexi12 bility and irradiation volume to accommo13 date as many concurrent users as possible. 

14 ‘‘(iv) Capabilities for irradiation with 

15 neutrons of a lower energy spectrum. 

16 ‘‘(v) Multiple loops for fuels and mate17 rials testing in different coolants. 

18 ‘‘(vi) Additional pre-irradiation and 

19 post-irradiation examination capabilities. 

20 ‘‘(vii) Lifetime operating costs and 

21 lifecycle costs. 

22 ‘‘(4) REPORTING PROGRESS.—The Department 

23 shall, in its annual budget requests, provide an expla24 nation for any delay in its progress and otherwise 

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1 prove the start of operations for this facility by De2 cember 31, 2025. 

3 ‘‘(5) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall lever4 age the best practices for management, construction, 

5 and operation of national user facilities from the Of6 fice of Science.’’. 

7 SEC. 7. SECURITY OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES. 

8 Section 956 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

9 U.S.C. 16276) is amended by striking ‘‘, acting through the 

10 Director of the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Tech11 nology,’’. 

12 SEC. 8. HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTATION AND SUP13 PORTIVE RESEARCH. 

14 Section 957 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

15 U.S.C. 16277) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 957. HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTATION AND SUP17 PORTIVE RESEARCH. 

18 ‘‘(a) MODELING AND SIMULATION.—The Secretary 

19 shall carry out a program to enhance the Nation’s capabili20 ties to develop new reactor technologies through high-per21 formance computation modeling and simulation techniques. 

22 This program shall coordinate with relevant Federal agen23 cies through the National Strategic Computing Initiative 

24 created under Executive Order 13702 (July 29, 2015) while 

25 taking into account the following objectives: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Utilizing expertise from the private sector, 

2 universities, and National Laboratories to develop 

3 computational software and capabilities that prospec4 tive users may access to accelerate research and devel5 opment of advanced fission reactor systems, nuclear 

6 fusion systems, and reactor systems for space explo7 ration. 

8 ‘‘(2) Developing computational tools to simulate 

9 and predict nuclear phenomena that may be vali10 dated through physical experimentation. 

11 ‘‘(3) Increasing the utility of the Department’s 

12 research infrastructure by coordinating with the Ad13 vanced Scientific Computing Research program with14 in the Office of Science. 

15 ‘‘(4) Leveraging experience from the Energy In16 novation Hub for Modeling and Simulation. 

17 ‘‘(5) Ensuring that new experimental and com18 putational tools are accessible to relevant research 

19 communities. 

20 ‘‘(b) SUPPORTIVE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.—The Sec21 retary shall consider support for additional research activi22 ties to maximize the utility of its research facilities, includ23 ing physical processes to simulate degradation of materials 

24 and behavior of fuel forms and for validation of computa25 tional tools.’’. 


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1 SEC. 9. ENABLING NUCLEAR ENERGY INNOVATION. 

2 Subtitle E of title IX of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

3 (42 U.S.C. 16271 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 958. ENABLING NUCLEAR ENERGY INNOVATION. 

6 ‘‘(a) NATIONAL REACTOR INNOVATION CENTER.—The 

7 Secretary shall carry out a program to enable the testing 

8 and demonstration of reactor concepts to be proposed and 

9 funded by the private sector. The Secretary shall leverage 

10 the technical expertise of relevant Federal agencies and Na11 tional Laboratories in order to minimize the time required 

12 to enable construction and operation of privately funded ex13 perimental reactors at National Laboratories or other De14 partment-owned sites while ensuring reasonable safety for 

15 persons working within these sites. Such reactors shall oper16 ate to meet the following objectives: 

17 ‘‘(1) Enabling physical validation of novel reac18 tor concepts. 

19 ‘‘(2) Resolving technical uncertainty and in20 creasing practical knowledge relevant to safety, resil21 ience, security, and functionality of first-of-a-kind re22 actor concepts. 

23 ‘‘(3) General research and development to im24 prove nascent technologies. 

25 ‘‘(b) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 

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1 novation Capabilities Act, the Secretary, in consultation 

2 with the National Laboratories, relevant Federal agencies, 

3 and other stakeholders, shall transmit to the Committee on 

4 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representa5 tives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

6 of the Senate a report assessing the Department’s capabili7 ties to authorize, host, and oversee privately funded fusion 

8 and advanced fission experimental reactors as described 

9 under subsection (a). The report shall address the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) The Department’s safety review and over11 sight capabilities, including options to leverage exper12 tise from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and 

13 National Laboratories. 

14 ‘‘(2) Potential sites capable of hosting activities 

15 described under subsection (a). 

16 ‘‘(3) The efficacy of the Department’s available 

17 contractual mechanisms to partner with the private 

18 sector and Federal agencies, including cooperative re19 search and development agreements, strategic partner20 ship projects, and agreements for commercializing 

21 technology. 

22 ‘‘(4) Potential cost structures related to physical 

23 security, decommissioning, liability, and other long24 term project costs. 


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1 ‘‘(5) Other challenges or considerations identified 

2 by the Secretary.’’. 

3 SEC. 10. BUDGET PLAN. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle E of title IX of the Energy 

5 Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16271 et seq.) is further 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 959. BUDGET PLAN. 

8 ‘‘Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment 

9 of the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act, the De10 partment shall transmit to the Committee on Science, 

11 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and 

12 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Sen13 ate 3 alternative 10-year budget plans for civilian nuclear 

14 energy research and development by the Department. The 

15 first shall assume constant annual funding for 10 years at 

16 the appropriated level for the Department’s civilian nuclear 

17 energy research and development for fiscal year 2016. The 

18 second shall assume 2 percent annual increases to the ap19 propriated level for the Department’s nuclear energy re20 search and development for fiscal year 2016. The third shall 

21 be an unconstrained budget. The 3 plans shall include— 

22 ‘‘(1) a prioritized list of the Department’s pro23 grams, projects, and activities to best support the de24 velopment of next generation nuclear energy tech25 nology; 


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1 ‘‘(2) realistic budget requirements for the De2 partment to implement sections 955(c), 957, and 958 

3 of this Act; and 

4 ‘‘(3) the Department’s justification for con5 tinuing or terminating existing civilian nuclear en6 ergy research and development programs.’’. 

7 (b) REPORT ON FUSION INNOVATION.—Not later than 

8 six months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec9 retary of the Department of Energy shall transmit to the 

10 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 

11 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat12 ural Resources of the Senate a report that will identify en13 gineering designs for innovative fusion energy systems that 

14 have the potential to demonstrate net energy production not 

15 later than 15 years after the start of construction. In this 

16 report, the Secretary will identify budgetary requirements 

17 that would be necessary for the Department to carry out 

18 a fusion innovation initiative to accelerate research and de19 velopment of these designs. 

20 SEC. 11. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

21 The table of contents for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

22 is amended by striking the item relating to section 957 and 

23 inserting the following: 

‘‘957. High-performance computation and supportive research. 

‘‘958. Enabling nuclear energy innovation. 

‘‘959. Budget plan.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 335 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4084 

[Report No. 114–438] 

A BILL 

To enable civilian research and development of adchemistry, and materials science. and practical knowledge of nuclear physics, and public institutions and to expand theoretical vanced nuclear energy technologies by private 

FEBRUARY 29, 2016 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


srobinson on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS